Observations for 2019 September 10


Another day at Norris watching minor activity that led nowhere. We get strong play from the vents, and the wall of water would start to form, only to have the North Vent stop and the South take over. This would happen every hour or less for most of the day.

The runoff was turning white all day. By late afternoon this had extended all the way down to the bridge over the runoff, and even a couple of areas beyond in the outwash.

Also yesterday we noticed that during the morning rains, it appeared that the dead trees behind the vents looked more green and brown than gray. Wondered if these rains, the first strong and persistent ones in several weeks, had washed some of the silica and minerals off. But in the afternoon, when the rains had stopped, they were back to gray. Also the trees along the walkway have lost a lot of needles, so that only near the ends are there green ones. The ground is covered with a pretty thick coating of these needles. A few of the trees near the runoff are also full of pinecones, but these look old and dried out.